General Glossary of Terms

GLOSSARY

A

Ambient Occlusion (AO): is a shading method used in 3D computer graphics which helps add realism to local reflection models by taking into account attenuation of light due to occlusion. Ambient occlusion attempts to approximate the way light radiates in real life, especially off what are normally considered non-reflective surfaces. (Wikipedia)

AO: Ambient Occlusion

Auto-Fit: A plugin feature sold separately for use in DAZ Studio 4 Standard. It comes included with DAZStudio 4 Advanced and DAZ Studio 4 Pro.

Auto-Fit converts clothing for fourth generation figures so that it works on the Genesis figure.

B

Browser Reset: How to clear cache and cookies in a web browser. This is advisable if you are having difficulties with downloading a file:

C

Character Preset: A preset selection in DAZ Studio, the Character Preset can save the pose and the textures used on the figure. It does not save the base figure itself. In other words, To use a saved character preset, you have to load the base figure first and then apply the character preset to it. If you want to save the character and the base figure, choose to save as a scene.

Conforming Clothes: A clothing figure (.cr2) that is designed to following the rigging of a human figure (.cr2). The clothing conforms to the human figure. For example, the V4 Morphing Fantasy Dress conforms to the Victoria 4.2 base figure. Conforming Clothing is thus different from Dynamic Clothing.

D

Dependency Error: A content installer error message. Dependency Error means that you are not installing the product to the correct target folder or that you have not installed the required product. ExP add-ons must be installed to the same, exact target folder to which the base figure has been installed. For example, Victoria 4.2 Morphs++ must be installed to the same, exact target folder where Victoria 4.2 base has been installed. Genesis add-ons must be installed to the correct target folder where the Genesis base figure has already been installed.

Download Speeds: There are several factors that affect download speed: Speed of the website's servers, speed of your ISP's server, and speed of hubs in between the site and your computer. DAZ 3D has no direct control over hubs in the Internet itself. Therefore, it is possible for users in some parts of the world to experience very good download speeds, while others may have very slow speeds.

If you are experiencing slow downloads from DAZ 3D's website and not from other websites, you should see whether other users of our website are also having slow download speeds. If most users of www.daz3d.com are not having slow download speeds, but you are having slow download speeds with DAZ 3D and not other websites, then the is issue is most likely with internet hubs between our website and your computer.

To see whether this is the case on the PC, you should do a traceroute. This diagnostic tool will show how many hubs your connection is passing through. You can use it a few times every so often to see how fast or how slow data is traveling.

To use this tool on the PC, go to START –> RUN and type 'cmd' without the quotes. Then press ENTER on your keyboard. This will open a command prompt. In the prompt, type:

After you press enter, you will see several entries appear. Each entry in the list identifies a hub that the data is passing through. At the end of the tracert (trace route), you should see this:

Trace complete.

By using this tool, you, the user, can better gauge your connectivity to our website. It is possible for a website to have very reliable servers and connectivity and yet still have users who experience slow downloads. The speed at which data passes through hubs can greatly effect different users in some locations or with some ISPs. For this reason most users will experience very good connectivity to DAZ 3D's website, but other may experience slow or poor speeds.

Dynamic Clothing: Clothing designed to fall onto the posed figure with a natural appearance. This is simulated first through a process called 'Drape' in DAZ Studio. This simulates the little folds and hangs of the fabric on the human body. Dynamic Clothing is thus different from Conforming Clothing.

E

Elite Human Surface Shader (EHSS): A shader in DAZ Studio 4 that adds realistic properties to the surface of the figure or object. These properties include SSS (Subsurface Scattering), Velvet, and Fresnel.

ExP: Extensible Parameters

Extensible Parameters (ExP): A feature of Morph add-ons and base add-ons for Fourth Generation Figures, ExP allows multiple morphs to be used at the time time on a 4th generation figure. This was not always possible in 3rd generation figures.

G

Game Developer License: License for game developers, enabling them to use content in a redistributable game. The Game Developer License is different from the regular license which only allows redistribution of renders.

Genesis: The exciting, new, weight-mapped figure in DAZ Studio 4, successor to 4th generation figures. For more details, see these posts in theDAZ 3D forums:

I

IBL: Image-based Lighting

Image-based Lighting (IBL): It means that the light comes from an image, such as a background, rather than a simple white or colored light. This imitates how surroundings in real life can light up a subject.

Instancing: a feature in Bryce 7 Pro whereby you can have multiple copies of the same model. This helps to reduce the drain on system resources and is ideal for trees and other natural elements.

M

Morph Loader: a plugin and feature in DAZ Studio that enables you to add a custom morph to a figure. NOTE: With the Genesis figure, it is necessary to change the resolution of the Genesis to base before exporting the mesh for use in a modeling program, such as ZBrush.

O

OpenGL (Open Graphics License)

P

Platinum Club: A special rewards club unique to DAZ 3D. For more info, see here:

Poke-through: an unwanted problem with clothing, pokethrough is when the surface of the human figure breaks through the surface of the clothing, producing an unrealistic appearance.

These tips below are designed primarily for conforming clothing on generation 3 and 4 figures.

Supported Figures. Make sure the clothing you are applying to the figure is designed for the particular human figure. If you use clothing for Michael 3 on Michael 4, you can expect serious poke-through. Use clothing for Michael 4 on the Michael 4 figure.

Supported Morphs. Only use Morphs in the base human figure that are supported in the clothing. This is not a hard and fast rule as there are other ways to get around this, but it will reduce the likelihood of poke-through. If you are using an outfit that only supports Victoria 4.2 base, but has no support for V4.2 Morphs++, you should expect poke-through when you dial up the ‘Amazon’ morph in V4.2.

Adjustment morphs are often available in the clothing that can bend or more the drape of the robe or dress to flow with the body’s new position. The ‘drapey’ portion of an outfit, such as the skirt, by nature is not form-fitting. For this reason, adjustment morphs are typically built into the clothing. You can use these to move, bend, sway, or otherwise change the ‘flow’ of the skirt or robe so that it matches up with the legs. These morphs do not apply automatically, but must be done by hand after you pose the human figure.

Cloth Thickness. Some outfits, such as the bodysuit, have a cloth thickness morph in them. Increase the value of this morph to eliminate minor poke-through. It’s very effective for this. Avoid extreme poses. Extreme poses include poses where the values of the nodes (arm, elbow, shoulder, etc) are near maximum value or even beyond. These are much more likely to product poke-through in clothing. There are ways around this for advanced users, but you can expect poke-through for extreme poses. Hiding parts of the body and using magnets are ways to resolve poke-through caused by extreme poses.

“Hide” the part of the body that is poking through. This is a very easy method and in most instances is very effective. It is not effective if part of the body you need to hide is naturally exposed such as the upper arm beneath a long sleeve. To hide any part of the body in DAZ Studio, use the Scene Tab to find the part and click the ‘eye’ to the right to close it. In Poser, select the body part and then uncheck the ‘visible’ box in the Parameters Panel.

Use magnets. Magnets are provided in separate products and, in rare occasion, with some clothing products. Magnets are not for beginning users and require a solid understanding to use effectively. See the readme for magnets for more information.

In DAZ Studio 3 Advanced, use the Morphfollower feature. This assumes that the clothing was designed for the figure on which it is used, but doesn’t have support for the particular morph or morphs you are using in the base human figure. Morphfollower only works with clothing designed for the figure on which it is used. Morphfollower will not make an outfit for V3 work on Aiko 4, for example. Morphfollower also should not be used on dynamic clothing.

R

Render: The ability of the software to render is a very key ability of 3D Software. This can be an action or a noun. This is the process whereby a 3D digital scene is changed into a picture. This is analogous to photography. A render can also mean a rendered picture. For example, you could say, “I made a new render in DAZ Studio 4.”

RenderNode: A network client feature in Carrara Pro that allows you to render a scene or animation in Carrara with one or more client computers. The client computers can be both PCs and Macs.

S

SAFE MODE with NETWORKING: You can test the status of an internet issue or internet-related issue by booting your PC into “SAFE MODE with NETWORKING.” This is a special diagnostic mode of Windows. In this mode, I'd like you to use your browser to view our website. See whether you have the same problems in this mode. The display may look a bit large, but that is not the point. It will let us know more about the problems you are having on our website. Once you've done this you can reboot into normal mode.

To boot into SAFE MODE with NETWORKING, you will need to tell your PC to restart. It will shut down and then begin booting up again. As soon as it begins to boot up again (sometimes called 'posting,' when you see the PC mfg's name or the option to enter the BIOS or motherboard controls), you should tap on the F8 key on the keyboard (One thousand one, One thousand two, and so forth). Eventually, you should see a menu you don't normally see. You can stop tapping when you see this menu. There should be an option for 'SAFE MODE with NETWORKING.' Use the arrow key on the keyboard to move the highlight to that option. Then press Enter.

You will see the different modules loaded as it boots into the safe mode. This is normal. You may also be asked to log in. If you do not have a password, just press enter. In Safe Mode, the video card driver is not fully used, so the display may look very 'large.' This also will change to normal when you restart later.

Try to browse our website. See if you can duplicate the problem or if the problem doesn't happen. Once you've tested these things, simply tell your PC to restart and it will boot up normally.

Please note that SAFE MODE with networking should allow your internet connection to work if it is handled through a network card, such as many cable internet connections. Some internet connection, such as dial up or some connections handled through USB will not work in Safe Mode with Networking.

Smart Content Tab: A new tab featured in DAZ Studio 4, the Smart Content Tab displays content based on context rather than an arbitrary organization as in the Content Tab. The user can select a model in the scene and relevant add-ons appear in the Smart Content Tab. Since Smart Content relies on indexed content (metadata), only new products made since summer of 2011 will appear in the Smart Content Tab. Content made prior to this time will not.

Spray Tool: A render tool in Bryce that enables the user to render only a specific area. The similar tool in DAZ Studio is called the Spot Tool.

SSS: Subsurface Scattering

Subsurface Scattering (SSS): This is a shader effect in DAZ Studio that simulates how light bounces and scatters through the surface of an object, such as in human skin. This adds realism to the render.

T

Texture Template: A jpg or group of jpg images that show the actual uv map of a given model. Many products in the DAZ 3D store have texture templates provided gratis on the product page in the 'Resources & Information' box. A texture template is a guide to what part of the texture will be placed onto the model and is essential to create a good, working texture. The texture template is not necessary to use the product, but only to create your own custom texture.

U

UV: The letters “U” and “V” are used to describe the 2D mesh[1] because “X”, “Y” and “Z” are already used to describe the 3D object in model space. (Wikipedia) See UV Mapping.

UV Mapping: UV Mapping is how the texture is mapped onto the model. The model is 3D but the texture that goes onto the model is 2D, like a .jpg file. The UV map tells what part of the texture goes on what part of the model. Also see 'Texture Template,' and Wikipedia's article:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_mapping

W

Weight-Mapping:

Windows File Protection: a feature of Windows Vista and Windows 7, Windows File Protection prevents applications from modifying or accessing files in the Program Files folder. For this reason, the default path for content in DAZ Studio 4 and DAZ Studio 3 is in the users directory.